Dear Sir or Madam,

I would be grateful if you could send me the following information
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

Full minutes of all Guideline Development Group (GDG)meetings to
date for the NICE guideline 'The acute management of patients with
chronic (longer than 6 weeks) non-specific low back pain'

I understand that abridged minutes are available on the NICE
website - I would welcome copies of the full and detailed minutes
of these meetings.

Yours faithfully,

P Ward

[Subject only] Thank you for contacting NICE

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Dear Sir/Madam

Reference No: 14958

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

Thank you for your request for information, received at this office on
13/11/08, in which you requested the following:

*Full minutes of all Guideline Development Group (GDG) meetings to
date for the NICE guideline 'The acute management of patients with
chronic (longer than 6 weeks) non-specific low back pain'

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response
within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act,
subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to
a third party. In some circumstances we may be unable to achieve this
deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed
and the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive
payment from you. If you chose not to make a payment then your request
will remain unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
NICE.

Should you need to discuss this further please contact the Enquiry
Handling Team on 0845 003 7781.

Yours sincerely,

Enquiry Handling Team
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

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Dear Sir/Madam

Reference No: 14958

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

I write in connection with your request for information dated 13/11/08
which asked our organisation for the following:

*Full minutes of all Guideline Development Group (GDG) meetings to
date for the NICE guideline 'The acute management of patients with
chronic (longer than 6 weeks) non-specific low back pain'

Your request for information has now been considered and accepted with
the following response being issued in compliance with the act.

I can confirm that the full minutes are listed on the NICE website at
the following link:
http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.js...
These are the only minutes we hold.

The minutes for the September 2008 meeting have not yet been confirmed,
and are exempt under s.22 of the Act (Information intended for future
publication).

The response time for your request on this occasion was 18 working days.

I hope this correspondence has answered all the issues raised in your
original request. If you would like to discuss your enquiry further
please contact the enquiry handling team on 0845 003 7781 or via
[NICE request email]

If you are unhappy with this response and wish to make a formal
complaint it must be made in writing by letter, fax or email within 20
working days of the Institute's response to you and sent to:

Alana Christopher
Associate Director, Corporate Office
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence MidCity Place
71 High Holborn
London WC1V 6NA
Email: [email address]

Once we have received your complaint, you will be sent an
acknowledgement within two working days. The Associate Director,
Corporate Office, will review your complaint and a full reply will be
sent to you within 20 working days.

If you are not content with the outcome your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision who can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Regards,

Enquiry Handling Team
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

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